HIGH-TEMPERATURE HEAT EXCHANGER TESTING IN A PILOT-SCALE SLAGGING FURNACE SYSTEM
The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), in partnership with United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contract, has designed, constructed, and operated a 3.0-million Btu/hr (3.2 x 10{sup 6} kJ/hr) slagging furnace system (SFS). Successful operation has demonstrated that the SFS meets design objectives and is well suited for testing very high-temperature heat exchanger concepts. Test results have shown that a high-temperature radiant air heater (RAH) panel designed and constructed by UTRC and used in the SFS can produce a 2000 F (1094 C) process air stream. To support the pilot-scale work, the EERC has also constructed laboratory- and bench-scale equipment which was used to determine the corrosion resistance of refractory and structural materials and develop methods to improve corrosion resistance. DOE projects that from 1995 to 2015, worldwide use of electricity will double to approach 20 trillion kilowatt hours. This growth comes during a time of concern over global warming, thought by many policy makers to be caused primarily by increases from coal-fired boilers in carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions through the use of fossil fuels. Assuming limits on CO{sub 2} emissions from coal-fired boilers are imposed in the future, the most economical CO{sub 2} mitigation option may be efficiency improvements. Unless efficiency improvements are made in coal-fired power plants, utilities may be forced to turn to more expensive fuels or buy CO{sub 2} credits. One way to improve the efficiency of a coal-fired power plant is to use a combined cycle involving a typical steam cycle along with an indirectly fired turbine cycle using very high-temperature but low-pressure air as the working fluid. At the heart of an indirectly fired turbine combined-cycle power system are very high-temperature heat exchangers that can produce clean air at up to 2600 F (1427 C) and 250 psi (17 bar) to turn an aeroderivative turbine. The overall system design can be very similar to that of a typical pulverized coal-fired boiler system, except that ceramics and alloys are used to carry the very high-temperature air rather than steam. This design makes the combined-cycle system especially suitable as a boiler-repowering technology. With the use of a gas-fired duct heater, efficiencies of 55% can be achieved, leading to reductions in CO{sub 2} emissions of 40% as compared to today's coal-fired systems. On the basis of work completed to date, the high-temperature advanced furnace (HITAF) concept appears to offer a higher-efficiency technology option for coal-fired power generation systems than conventional pulverized coal firing. Concept analyses have demonstrated the ability to achieve program objectives for emissions (10% of New Source Performance Standards, i.e., 0.003 lb/MMBtu of particulate), efficiency (47%-55%), and cost of electricity (10%-25% below today's cost). Higher-efficiency technology options for new plants as well as repowering are important to the power generation industry in order to conserve valuable fossil fuel resources, reduce the quantity of pollutants (air and water) and solid wastes generated per MW, and reduce the cost of power production in a deregulated industry. Possibly more important than their potential application in a new high-temperature power system, the RAH panel and convective air heater tube bank are potential retrofit technology options for existing coal-fired boilers to improve plant efficiencies. Therefore, further development of these process air-based high-temperature heat exchangers and their potential for commercial application is directly applicable to the development of enabling technologies in support of the Vision 21 program objectives. The objective of the work documented in this report was to improve the performance of the UTRC high-temperature heat exchanger, demonstrate the fuel flexibility of the slagging combustor, and test methods for reducing corrosion of brick and castable refractory in such combustion environments. Specific technical issues of interest included measuring the effects of coatings on heat transfer in the RAH, determining the general impact of firing a lower-iron bituminous coal on the operation of the RAH panel and SFS, and the development of ways to treat slag and refractories to decrease corrosion rates.
- Research Organization:
- University of North Dakota (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-98FT40320
- OSTI ID:
- 824978
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Dec 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
EVALUATION OF AEROSOL EMISSIONS DOWNSTREAM OF AN AMMONIA-BASED SO2 SCRUBBER
Vision 21 applications of high performance power systems (HIPPS)
Related Subjects
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
AIR HEATERS
BITUMINOUS COAL
BUILDING MATERIALS
CARBON DIOXIDE
COMBINED CYCLES
CORROSION RESISTANCE
FOSSIL FUELS
FURNACES
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT TRANSFER
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
POWER SYSTEMS
SOLID WASTES
TESTING
WORKING FLUIDS